Monday, February 25, 2008
Detroit schools grad rate: 32%
That is the number of ninth graders who graduate in four years in Detroit's schools. For males, it's 25%. I'm pretty sure Saginaw isn't far behind - or for that matter may be leading. That has to be one of the major problems not only in Michigan, but any other state as well. If education was improved, I think that much of the bad stuff in Michigan would decrease. You just don't get that many college, or even high school grads, knocking over 7/11 stores.
More jobs for the state? Why are companies going to come to a state where the majority of kids in its biggest city can't complete high school? If they can't figure out how to make it through high school, how can they be expected to hold a job any more complicated than flipping burgers? (How often have you seen that person behind the counter befuddled as you hand them a twenty, a one and three cents for a $6.03 bill - or if you do mess up a penny, they hand you 4 singles and 99 cents in change?)
However, check out the Detroit News or the Detroit Free Press and more often than not, you'll find sports news the number one or two article in the front page. For a month, the headlines should read, 34 Dropouts Today! instead of some steroid-using baseball player and his bazillion dollar salary who's unhappy with his team's treatment of him. Nothing promotes education like some drug-using baseball player who makes $1.7 million a season throwing a ball around.
Labels: crime, government, michigan
